Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Women's work and STUFF

Did you ever have so much to do you didn't know where to start?  That's where I'm at right now.  For 6 weeks...everything was ignored while I worked in the studio.  Now that my summer show is over, I have to address all those things that got neglected....the house, the bills (yeah...a whole batch of bills went in late), the landscaping.  Over the weekend I  had a chance to really clean the kitchen and mop the floor, cleaned the living room, and cleaned the studio...reorganzing about half of it.  I hung up clothes that have been sitting in piles on the bedroom floor for a long time.  I still have bins of show supplies to be put away and other rooms that should be cleaned from top to bottom. 

There's an old rhyme...."Man may work from sun to sun, but women's work is never done."  Lou always tries to yank my chain by referring to certain things as "women's work".   But "women's work" for me means having a full time job, keeping a household, taking care of the cats and finding time to be a jewelry artist.  Needless to say...it doesn't all get done.  I have good intentions when I get home.  I try to make a dent into the things that need to be done....but at some point every evening I give up...I'm drained.

There has to be an easier way.  As I tried to put away everything that I dragged out during the last 6 weeks I realized that there is just too much STUFF in this little hobbit hut that we live in.  We've been here for 20+ years and some of the STUFF has been here that long.  It's time to de-clutter. I'm going to make a concerted effort to go through every inch of this house and throw out STUFF that hasn't been used in the last year.  I'm hoping less STUFF means less maintenance.  At a minimum it may make the hobbit hut feel bigger....let's hope. 

I'll leave you with George Carlin on STUFF

6 comments:

Katie Hanrahan said...

You will feel so much better after you do get rid of some STUFF. It is very freeing and cathartic to lighten your load. I found this out when I moved and got rid of LOTS of my stuff! The trick is to not bring in more after you've lightened the load!

Maggie Roschyk said...

Gail, by all means, de-clutter! You will feel so good when it's done. SO much lighter, faster, more efficient, cleaner. Can't explain how good it feels. I'm always reminded of the Kevin Costner line about "clearing the mechanisism". You will be even more creative, if that's possible. I don't know, you're pretty darn creative right now.

Mary Newton Designs said...

you can do it! I always feel so much better when I 'lighten up'. Besides, you don't want to have to rent a storage locker for your shit(I mean stuff)!

Joan said...

I know your pain. My life is like this. Show prep for two weeks, try to catch up on house work, repeat. Carlin is the best. He is one fella that we are poorer to be without. As to the house, Give it your best shot lady!

Joan Furilla
http://jfurilla.wordpress.com/

Alice Walkowski said...

I call it "Simplifying" Every so often I try to simplify and it works...... for a while. I have signs all over the house that say "Simplify". My friends think the signs are just more stuff. Good luck with it.

Cristina Leonard said...

Garage sale time! My sisters and I had one last weekend and I got rid of a ton of stuff I didn't want and made $300. I feel lighter already!